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Change of Pace: A’s Make Quick Work of Yanks

Today’s loss to the Athletics can almost be boiled down to one very poor decision. After walking two of the first three batters of the game, C.C. Sabathia and Francisco Cervelli met for a mound conference and, for some reason, decided to throw a first pitch fastball to Kurt Suzuki. Even if Suzuki hadn’t had success against Sabathia in the past, it seems kind of obvious that he would be sitting on a first pitch heater. Well, he got it and didn’t miss.

Robinson Cano makes the pivot on a 5-4-3 triple play in the bottom of the sixth inning (Photo: Yahoo).

Staked to an early lead, Dallas Braden used his mid-80s fastball and change-up to keep the Yankees’ lineup off balance. The hitters would never adjust, allowing Braden to breeze through six innings with only 81 pitches. Brad Zeigler and Andrew Bailey had similar success in three innings of 1-hit relief, putting the lid on a game the featured a very lazy Yankees’ offensive effort. Instead of working the count, the Yankees exhibited a very impatient approach, so not surprisingly, the game checked in at a very un-Yankee like 2:07.

After falling behind in the first, Sabathia pitched relatively well despite not having his best location. He also got some help from his defense, which turned a 5-4-3 triple play in the bottom of the 6th. Sabathia wound up going the full 8 innings, but the damage had been done in the first.

Game Notes

The Yankees last triple play was on June 3, 1968 against the Minnesota Twins. In the top of the 8th inning, the Twins loaded the bases when Johnny Roseboro hit a soft pop back to pitcher Dooley Womack, who then threw to Bobby Cox at 3B to double off Tony Oliva, before Cox relayed the ball to Mickey Mantle at 1B to triple up Bob Allison.

The last triple play (also of the 5-4-3 variety) in the majors was pulled off by the Brewers in a game against the Giants on September 6, 2009.

Robinson Cano’s throwing error in the bottom of the 4th inning snapped a team errorless streak that had extended to 12 games. Before the miscue, the last game in which the Yankees made an error (3 in fact) was the second game of the season in Boston.

Kurt Suzuki’s first inning HR was his third career blast off C.C. Sabathia. Only Alfonso Soriano, Jermaine Dye, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome have hit more off Sabathia.

Sabathia tied a career high by giving up six walks. He had issues six free passes two times previously, the most recent of which was also against the Athletics on September 11, 2004.

The Yankees scored fewer than three runs for the first time all season.

After Braden retired the side in the 6th inning, he was caught on camera yelling something at Alex Rodriquez. In response, Arod simply waived him off.

It definitely had the feel of a getaway day. Braden’s beef was absurd. I also really hate when other players reference Jeter when they criticize Arod. As the captain, I wish Jeter would fire back at Braden, but we know he isn’t going to do that.